Magical Sacrifices -Rewritten-
by Angel Queen of Emeralds
Summary: Contains Yuri. Magic. The life source of Wizards. Without magic... The Spiral as you know it... will come to an end. Shelby, a scientist of Wizard City, goes through a journey of tragedy where magic is disappearing. A Journey where you either hold on to your morals and die... or do whatever it takes to survive... even if you have to sacrifice everyone... Will she be able to endure?
1. The Beginning of the End

**Angel: No I am not dead. I just had a lot of shit happen in my life and I am incredibly busy. I am just going to focus on one story and that is this one, I am strapped for time and I still want to write, despite being busy. I decided to rewrite this story without any OC's and of course just add stuff/take stuff out. Sorry to those who submitted an OC to this old fic before, but if I want any progress done, I needed to do that.**

 **Few things to point out, this story contains Yuri. If you read my fics before, I always put Yuri in. In case you somehow don't know what Yuri means, it is basically love between girls. If you are homophobic or not into it, please leave. I warned you. The next point is that I am unaware of anything beyond Azteca in Wizard101 as I have not played the game since Azteca came out. So if I lack knowledge of spells or whatever, you'd know why. Final point, I know there are a lot of things that need to be improved with this story, if you happen to have any feedback besides your standard comments on what happened in the chapter, it would be most appreciated. With that, I hope you enjoy this story that has been rewritten.**

 **SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**

 _I recall a world where magic thrived._

 _Wizards roamed happily everywhere… blissfully unaware of a tragedy about to transpire…_

 _Magic… the main point in Wizards… and also… the very life source of them…_

 _What are Wizards… without magic?_

 _Without magic… they will die..._

 _One does not simply become a Wizard…_

 _You either are one… or you're not…_

 _All Wizards are born with magic..._

 _To have magic disappear... Wizards... and all other magical beings... will simply cease to be..._

 _I had witnessed the moment where everything went to hell in a matter of minutes…_

 _Let me take you back… 7 days before the Tragedy happened…_

 _This… is my story…_

 _~Line Break~_

A middle aged woman with purple hair and wearing a white lab coat entered Headmaster Merle Ambrose's office. She wiped the sweat off her face due to the very high temperatures Wizard City is facing at this point in summer. Closing the door behind her, she headed over to his desk where he was working on some documents. 3 Fans surrounding his desk were turned on at full blast at his face as if to cool him off from the heat wave.

He appeared to not have noticed her come in the room. The woman sighed and took out her clipboard that had a graph on it. Clearing her throat, she spoke in a polite tone. "Headmaster Ambrose… I have come with some troubling news…"

The aforementioned man looked up from his work. He examined her for a moment as if trying to figure out who she was. After a moment or two, his expression softened and he placed his pen down. "Ah, Shelby DreamCatcher… It has been a long time since you last visited me, hasn't it?" He smiled, looking at her and remembering all the achievements this scientist made when she was being taught storm magic.

Shelby smiled lightly, but then her expression turned serious. "Yes. It has. However, I said I had come with some-"

"How is your daughter, Sydney, I hear she is almost a year old!" Ambrose interrupted her, curious about her life. Shelby sighed. She liked and hated the fact that Ambrose was interested in hearing any of his favorite students' life. As much as she would like to have a chat, there is serious news she has for Ambrose and the entire Spiral. It is right in her hands!

"Sydney is fine. Her first word was, 'Mommy'. Now Ambrose, please don't interrupt me…" Shelby started, preparing to show the graph she had on the clipboard in her hands. Ambrose's smile faltered and he grew concerned. He clasped his hands together and gave her his full attention.

"At first… it didn't seem to be a problem… but…" Shelby showed the graph to him. "The whole Spiral is showing a decrease in magic…"

Ambrose's eyes widened. He took the graph from her and stared at it. From 2008-2013, magic in the Spiral has remained constant and high. However from 2014 to the present, 2020, magic has decreased little by little each year. He scratched his head, thinking how in the world did this happen? Magic doesn't simply decrease like that.

"Are you quite sure?" Ambrose tried to remain calm, but Shelby knew he was quite worried. "You sure you didn't make a mistake when making this graph?" He handed the graph back to her while awaiting her answer. Unfortunately for him, Shelby had shaken her head in response to his question.

"No. No mistakes were made. This is a legitimate chart." She placed the graph away and pulled out a news article about a Legendary Diviner named, Kat FireWard. "Here is a news article that validates my point further…"

She handed the article to him. Ambrose took it and read the first few sentences of the headlines. "Kat FireWard is a top notch diviner in her class. However, one day, she casted the spell, Leviathan, and then she passed out and fell into a coma. Doctors say that her magic levels have weakened tremendously and the cause of it is unknown. It couldn't be from casting Leviathan as she had casted that spell numerous times without having any after effects."

"Yes, and that happened 3 weeks ago." Shelby stated, grabbing back the article. "It may be a coincidence, but it is something for us to be concerned about. If magic keeps dropping at this rate, there will be problems for us all…"

Ambrose closed his eyes for a moment or two to think about the situation. He bit his bottom lip a bit before making a decision. "I'm afraid, without some more concrete evidence… I can't make a speech about this to Wizard City and the other worlds of the Spiral." He picked up his pen and began doing his work again.

"But Headmaster…" Shelby interjected but Ambrose held up a hand to silence her. She groaned and bit her lip, a bit annoyed. She thought Ambrose would tell the Spiral the news, regardless of the lack of more evidence. She isn't lying about this!

"I mean no disrespect Shelby, but until there is more solid proof that magic is indeed decreasing little by little, I'll have to take your words with a grain of salt. I can't give false news to the Spiral. Now, please be on your way and take good care of your daughter…" Ambrose shooed her off as he headed back to work.

Shelby put a hand through her purple locks and blew raspberries. That was a complete waste of time. She can't even get Ambrose to believe it. Her fellow Scientists have all laughed at her findings and saying she is getting stupider. She had hoped Ambrose would see her way in this… but apparently… he doesn't.

"I didn't even make a mistake… This is legitimate…" Shelby muttered to herself as she turned around to leave Ambrose's office. Once again, the intense heats of the sun's rays were on her. She fanned herself with the article.

"I don't remember Wizard City ever being this hot before…" She stated, wiping the sweat forming on her face. "I need a nice cold shower when I get home… and a beer…"

~Line Break~

A 5 year old red haired girl walked around the sandy beaches of Wizard City Shore, humming to herself. Apparently the heat has no effect on this girl's mood. She had a shovel and a bucket in her hands. It looks like she is trying to find the perfect spot to make a sandcastle.

"Mommy! I am going to make a sandcastle!" The little girl called out to her mother, who was taking a dip in the ocean.

"Okay, Jamie! Stay where I can see you, ok?"

The little girl nodded in response and looked around for a good spot to make one. There were a lot of people on the beach today, but that isn't a surprise at this point in summer. Everyone is trying to cool off in this nearly 100 degree weather.

"Let see…" Jamie scanned around the area and manages to find one not too far off from her position and it was near a trash bin. "I think Mommy will still see me from there!" She quickly headed off to that general direction. Arriving at the area, she sat herself down and got ready to make a sandcastle.

"Did you hear about Kat?"

Jamie stopped when she heard some boys talking near her. She turned her head around and sees two boys in blue swim shorts talking to one another on the stairs. Now, her mom did tell her that it isn't polite to listen to other people's conversations… but… she would never know, right?

"Yeah, my sister once dated her. But man, to think she would fall into a coma after summoning Leviathan…" The second boy said, scratching the back of his head. The first boy shook his head, knowing that his friend was misinformed.

"No man, she is in a coma because her magic is like… decreased or something…"

Jamie heard of that before. Although she never really understood why having a decrease in magic will put you in a "Sleep" like state. She reached for her shovel and began to slowly dig into the sand, while listening in on the conversation.

"That's some heavy stuff, bro. Magic is like… our blood…"

"Yeah man. I heard from her family that her condition is getting worse and she is on the verge of having no magic inside her at all…"

"What happens when you're out of magic again?"

"I don't know man… maybe you die or something… Man… such a waste… To see a beautiful and talented girl like that dying… Really makes you think…"

So, a person dies when they are completely ridden of magic? That is a horrible thought. She hoped this Kat person will get better though. Shaking that thought off, she has a sandcastle to build! She quickly dug into the sand and shoveled them into her bucket.

"Sandcastle! Sandcastle! Sandcastle!" She hummed as she scooped up sand to fill her bucket. After a few more seconds of shoveling sand… her shovel hit something hard. Confused and curious, she shoveled around the area to figure out what her shovel hit.

"Huh?" The first thing she sees is black hair…

She decided to shovel up some more sand around it and to her horror; she sees a head of a teenage boy with his eyeballs missing. Next to his head was a note covered in blood… probably his blood. Then all of a sudden, a hand popped out of the sand and latched onto her ankle. Jamie looked at the head, horrified, as she sees his lips moving…

"Please… Kill me…"

"MOMMY!"

~Line Break~

Shelby hopped out of the shower when she heard her baby crying. Normally her husband would take care of it when she is in the shower but sometimes her husband leaves as soon as she gets home from work. She should be annoyed that her husband takes off and leaves her with the baby, but there is nothing she can really do about it. It's not like her husband isn't purposefully doing this. He has things to do too.

"I'm coming baby girl! Mommy will be right there!" She wrapped a towel around herself and exited the bathroom. Shelby walked into her daughter's room and sees Sydney crying in her crib. Sighing, she gently picked her up and cradled her in her arms.

"Ssh, Mommy is here…" Shelby calmed her daughter down. She wondered what made her fussy this time. She already changed her diaper and fed her. She fondly looked at her daughter and asked in a baby voice. "What made you upset my cute little sugar?" She tickled her and the baby girl laughed.

"Ma…" Sydney reached for the moon shaped earring her mother was wearing, but Shelby quickly stopped her from even doing so.

"No sweetie, that will hurt mommy if you play with it…" She turned her attention to the window where she sees a wolf looking at her from the forest. Sydney sees the wolf too and reached out to it as if trying to get closer to it.

"Do…Do…" Sydney was having trouble saying the word, "Dog".

"It's not a Dog technically sweetie, it is a Wolf…" Shelby explained to her daughter. However she wondered what that wolf was doing… Wolves in Wizard City are rare nowadays. Huntsman keep hunting them and killing them as if it was a sport. That disgusts her. At least there are still wolves around. Hopefully, that one won't get killed.

"W-Wulf…" Sydney tried to say the word. Shelby smiled and nuzzled her daughter. She then remembered that she has to get some more research done today. There had to be some way to convince Ambrose of this discovery she made. A discovery she wishes that she never found to be sure, but it had to be done.

"Would you like to see mommy work, sweetie?" The baby squealed her agreement. Shelby smiled and then looked out the window once more. The wolf has disappeared from sight. Well, wolves have things to do like hunt and protect their turf, so it shouldn't be surprising. She briefly took a look at her wristwatch and saw that it was 6:30 PM. Plenty of time to do some research before heading to bed for the night.

"Mommy is going to convince Ambrose that her work is legitimate!" Shelby carried her daughter into her work area so she can watch her. At least until the little tyke gets tired and falls asleep of course. Hopefully she will find some concrete evidence for Ambrose tonight.

 _At the time, I never would have thought this problem will go out of control very fast..._

 _I mean, who would? There was only a slight change... so you would think it might takes years before things go haywire..._

 _How silly of me to think that..._

 _6 Days until the End of the Spiral…_


	2. A Virus!

_The next day… I decided to look for the source of this madness…_

 _However, I know now that… it was rather pointless…_

 _Nothing can stop it… nothing…_

 _~Line Break~_

Shelby got up from the bed when she heard the cries of her daughter. She yawned as she stretched her arms and legs. Her husband groaned and placed the blanket over his head, not really in the mood for this thing at this time of day.

"It's like… what 6:00…? We hardly ever get 5 hours of sleep at best anymore without her crying…" Her husband groaned. Shelby narrowed her eyes at him and then shook her head. She can't believe him sometimes. The purple haired scientist quickly placed on a robe to cover her naked body.

"James, she is a baby with needs. It's our jobs as parents to fulfill them. If not, Social Services would like a word with us…" Shelby rolled her eyes as she quickly headed into the bathroom to wash her face. After doing so, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes tell a story that she has been up most of the night. She only had like… what… one… maybe two hours of sleep? She had her research and somewhat of her husband to blame for that. However, she could have refused to have sex with him, but she wanted it… a little.

Sydney's high pitched crying shook her out of her reverie. She sighed and headed out the bathroom. "I'm coming sweetie." Heading into her daughter's room, she gently picked up Sydney from her crib and gently cradled her in her arms, hushing her with sweet words.

"Mommy's here… Are you hungry little one?" She sees her make a small nod in response to her question. Smiling, she sat herself down on a lounge chair nearby. She opened her robe a bit and let her daughter feed off of her breast. She used to think it felt weird, but now she has gotten used to it.

"Good thing I have the day off today…" Shelby sighed. It is Wednesday, August 19th. She had a lot of things to do today. One of them is finding concrete proof for Ambrose as she did not manage to find anything last night.

She decided to watch some news while Sydney is busy getting her hunger satiated. Shelby did not want to disturb her daughter with loud noise, so she reached for some headphones and placed them on. Turning it on, she reached for the remote and turned on the TV.

As usual, the cartoons pop up. She lets her daughter watch them from time to time, even though she doesn't quite understand them. However, that isn't what she wants to watch right now. She inputted 949 in the remote for the news channel.

"Expect rain to come tomorrow! There might be a chance of thunderstorms!" The weather lady in a skimpy outfit exclaimed to the camera. Shelby almost wanted to smack the person who thought it was a good idea for the weather lady to be wearing such revealing clothing. Sure, she admits the woman is sexy, but in no way does she accept such stupid decisions just to get people, mostly men, to watch the news more.

"Thanks, Chelsea. Now then, we have more news regarding the body found in Wizard City Shore."

There was a body found at the beach? Had there been a murder? Shelby upped the volume a bit. She wanted to hear more about this. News like this had always interested her. Heck, she even solved a murder case herself once.

"Carl LeafBracer is the name of the man that was found in Wizard City Shore by a young girl named Jamie NinjaMaster." They showed an image of a 5 year old red haired girl and a picture of the deceased. "The body was found at 4 PM underneath the sands with his eyeballs completely gone from his eye sockets and a note next to him." Hearing that really disturbed Shelby.

"According to Jamie, Carl told her to kill him. Just before paramedics could even get to him, he died. They say the cause of his death is due to all of his magical powers being gone from his body. Police are unsure how, but this case is definitely similar to that of Kat FireWard, who is now in a coma from lack of magic."

 _Oh god…_ Shelby placed a hand over her mouth in shock. Another person has fallen due to lack of magic. This is getting more concerning. If this keeps up, seeing people pass out on the street in Wizard City will become the norm! However, it is just two people so far… but still…

"The note, according to Police, says the following…"

 ** _THE VIRUS WILL SPREAD!_**

 ** _SAVE YOURSELVES!_**

 _A Virus? So, perhaps this whole thing is happening because of a Virus? You would think doctors would find such a Virus when examining both Kat and Carl. Also, I didn't detect any virus when doing my scientific researching…_ Shelby wasn't quite sure if that was the case, but it will be something she'll look into today. Also, is the virus a natural cause… or did someone create it? Either one sounded horrible no matter how hard you look at it, the fact of the matter is that there is a Virus… well if there is one.

She feels Sydney let go of her breast with a pop, probably full. Shelby placed her on her shoulder and lightly patted her on the back to get her to burp. After 10 of them, a satisfied burp came from her, and then she gently cradled Sydney in her arms. She continued to listen to the news.

"Police are still investigating the area to find any more clues. We will notify you more once we have more information…"

Hearing enough and disappointed that there wasn't more info, she shut off the TV. She was going to head to the Lab after she makes Breakfast. Shelby looked down at her daughter who was staring back at her with questioning eyes.

"Ma?"

"Mommy is going to do a lot of work today, sweetie pie." Shelby told her daughter. She wondered how she is going to explain this to her husband. How would he react to it? She then scoffed and shook her head. Well, if she knew her husband, he'd probably just laugh and think she is full of herself. What a supportive husband… but she still loves him anyways.

"It's going to be a long day, isn't it?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Ba?" Her daughter said, confused. Shelby smiled and just hugged her.

 _~Line Break~_

"Hey, what's that in your ear?" An 18 year old black haired girl with chestnut eyes asked to her friend walking with her. Her friend in question was a 17 year old brunette with blue eyes and freckles. Both of them were in a White T-Shirt and a black skirt.

"What, a quarter?" The friend asked, knowing where this was going. The girl laughed and shook her head.

"No, silly." She reached for her ear and pulled out a pigeon. "You had that in your ear!" She laughed at her friend's face as she let the pigeon fly off into the sky. The brunette groaned and smacked herself in the face.

"You and your so called, 'Magic'."

"I am a Magician, what can I say?" The black haired woman shrugged her shoulders with a smile. The brunette sighed, but smiled as well. As annoying her friend is at times, she cherishes her company. Both of them placed their hands behind their heads and continued to walk forward.

"Do you ever wonder if Magic really exists, Kelsey?" The brunette asked. The aforementioned girl looked at her as if her question was stupid.

"Magic does exist! It is all around us! In the air! In the soil! It is everywhere, Victoria!" Kelsey stated, throwing her hands up for emphasis. Victoria patted her friend on her shoulder as if pitying her. She pouted in response and crossed her arms with a huff.

"Sure it does…"

"Then how did I get that pigeon out of your ear?"

"You are just using tricks, nothing magical about it." Victoria sighed. Kelsey blew raspberries at her. She would never understand. Sure Earth seems to be a non-magical place… but there are some things that can't be explained.

"Anyways, my birthday is in 6 days. Are you getting me something good?" Kelsey asked with a smile. Victoria rolled her eyes and gently smacked her friend upside the head. The black haired girl pouted, rubbing the area where she smacked it.

"Of course, idiot. God, you're such a dork."

"Stingy…"

The pair soon reached the St. Mary's High School where they were attending classes. This was their last year of school before they can finally graduate and move away from their annoying parents. Both of them didn't really like this school all that much, but at least they need to survive one more year.

"Hopefully we get some nice teachers this time… not those monotone teachers last year… Ugh." Kelsey deadpanned. Victoria could only nod in agreement. Those types of teachers were horrible. Every word the spoke made her want to shut that mouth for good.

"The end is near… the end is near I tells ya!"

Both of them turned to their right to see a bald black man with a sign on him. The sign says, "The World will end soon!" The girls sighed. They've seen this guy way too many times around these parts. He is always going on about how the world will end soon. Yet, every time he predicts something, it doesn't really happen. Not like they believe him anyways.

"Yo, old man, still think the world is ending eh?" Victoria decided to mess with him a little. Kelsey gave her a look as if to say that is rude of her. Sure he is annoying, but he doesn't deserve to be called that.

"It is I tells ya! I know I am right this time!" The black man laughed hysterically. "You'll all see! We'll all be sacrificed! It is what God has in stores for us!" He then looked around and spoke in a loud whisper. "Between you two and me… There is 6 days left! 6 days left to live your pathetic teenage lives!"

"Pathetic? I'll show you pathetic you inaccurate bastard." Victoria was about to kick his butt, but Kelsey prevented her from doing so by grabbing her by the arm. The man laughed and walked away to do his usual business of telling everybody that the world is ending. Victoria scoffed and shook Kelsey off of her.

"No violence on school grounds, Vic, sheesh… Do you want to get suspended?" Kelsey asked softly.

"Pfft, whatever. I just don't get that guy. What makes him think the world is ending?" Victoria asked as they both entered the school. Kelsey thought about it for a moment, trying to think of a rational answer. However, she can't simply come up with one that doesn't end with him being crazy.

"I don't know. All of us have to die have to some point though… Like the thing that wiped out the Dinosaurs…"

"Well duh, idiot, I know all of us will die no matter what. What kind of Apocalypse is going to "Supposedly" come I wonder…?" That man never did say how the world will end… he just thinks it WILL end soon.

"Something about us being sacrificed…" Kelsey stated. "Well at least it ain't no Zombie thingy. God knows that's cliché… and overdone…" Both of them laughed at that.

"I hear that…"

As they walked down the hallway to their classes, Kelsey felt the atmosphere… change a bit. She stopped in her tracks and looked around. Nothing was out of the ordinary… everything seemed the same.

Victoria, noticing her friend's behavior, stopped and looked at her. "Hey, what's wrong?" Kelsey didn't respond. Instead, she reached out with her hand as if to grab something that wasn't really there and trying to feel it. Okay, now she was really concerned.

"The fuck you doing?"

"… I don't know… Is it me or… is there a slight change in the atmosphere all of a sudden?" Kelsey asked her. She didn't know what it was…

"They probably turned on the air conditioner you goof… Whatever, we're going to be late for class… Hurry up…" Victoria walked on forward and Kelsey reluctantly followed. It definitely wasn't a change of temperature… it was something more… complex…

~Line Break~

Shelby typed away on the computer furiously. She has spent a total of 7 hours searching for the cause of this decrease of magic throughout the Spiral. There has to be a cause for this… Magic wouldn't just suddenly say, "Sorry, goodbye!" and then go away bit by bit. So far, all of her searches have turned up negative.

"Maybe if I can collect some skin samples from those unfortunate souls that had their magic drained… No… that's stupid…" She muttered to herself. If talented Doctor's couldn't find anything… what makes her any different? Sure, she is a scientist, but even she has her limits.

She pulled out the graph she made yesterday and stared at it. Magic levels were decreasing slowly but surely. Roughly 1.6 percent decrease every year. It isn't much, but it is enough for her to have been concerned enough to talk about it with Ambrose, who still refuses to discuss it if she has no evidence to back it up, but it is not like she made this graph to make people afraid.

"Hmm, perhaps there is a Virus that transformed into this… It could be a long shot, but it is worth a try." Shelby rolled her chair she is sitting on to the other side of the room where the bookshelf is. She skimmed through until she finds a book on known Viruses across the Spiral. She pulls it out and flips through it.

"Okay… Viruses… Viruses…" Shelby looked through multiple pages, HOPING to find something that involves magic. She sees Zombie Viruses, Toxic Viruses… Plant Viruses… After 5 minutes of looking in this big book, there was nothing about draining magic from people or things…

"Maybe… a spell? But I don't think there is even a spell that could do this!" Shelby bit her lip, debating on whether or not to look it up. Figuring it wouldn't hurt to look; she put back the Virus Book and then pulled out the Book of Spells…

She flipped through it like she did with the other, looking for anything relevant. It is a huge book, likely going to take her 20 or so minutes to skim pages to find a spell about it. She was about to give up when something caught her eye. She gripped the book tighter and stared at the page detailing of a small but very deadly spell that a user can cast. The spell didn't seem relevant… but something in her mind told her to look at it.

 _Epitomus Sacrifice Zilbalba_

 _A spell that can extract magic from nonliving things or dead people. It can also work on that of the dying. You can use this spell with a cost of little of your magic to sacrifice a dying or dead person and inanimate objects that contain magic and transfer them into your body. Beware though, the more you use it, the more it takes its toll on you._

 _All you have to do is reach out with your hand and say those 3 words. It will literally drain the victim and or thing dry and you will get the magic from it._

"Such a spell exists? I would never use such a thing. While it is certainly interesting, I don't know why I bothered to read it at all…" Shelby decided she had enough for today and slammed the book shut. She placed it back on the shelf and got up from her chair. She yawned and stretched her arms, feeling very tired from all the work she had done today.

"All that work and nothing to prove my discovery… Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow…"

Shelby packed up her things and left the Lab.

 _I didn't know how important that spell was back then…_

 _Never have I thought that it will become a thing…_

 _I wish I never saw that spell…_

 _5 days until the End of the Spiral…_


	3. Getting more info

_Apocalypse…_

 _That is something I never thought will happen in my lifetime._

 _The next day, I managed to make some progress on figuring things out..._

 _~Line Break~_

Shelby slowly walked out of her bedroom in her robe. She sleepily rubbed at her eyes as she made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once again, she hardly got much sleep. This time, she fully blames her husband for that. That man was just insatiable!

"Man I am sore…" Shelby muttered to herself as she disrobed and turned on the shower. She eyed the toothbrush on the counter. Shrugging, she decided to put some toothpaste on it and then hopped into the shower with it, deciding to brush her teeth AND take a shower.

"Saves time… La la… la la… la la…"

She then hears Sydney cry. Shelby groaned, not wanting to deal with her daughter right now. "James! You do it! I am taking a shower!" She yelled out to him. She hears him groan in response.

"For the love of pound cake!" James headed out of the bedroom in annoyance and into Sydney's room. Smiling, she continued to brush her teeth and also take a shower. It didn't take long for the crying to stop. Perhaps she needed a diaper change?

"Woah! That's a wet one! I think you broke a record, Sydney!"

"Figures…" Shelby was glad she didn't have to deal with that. As she was doing two tasks at once, she thought about that spell she somehow wanted to look at. What was it called? Epitomus… Sacrifice Zilbalba? For whatever reason, it seemed important. However, it is a dark spell that should not be used ever… and it is also not relevant to what she is trying to find out. Well, the only relevancy she can think of is that if worse comes to worse... She stopped there, not wanting to think about that further.

"Why would anyone want to use that spell? Maybe evil people… I know I wouldn't use it…"

She shook that thought off. There were far better things to think on… Like where to go next to continue her research so she can finally get Ambrose to make a speech about it to the entire Spiral! They must do something to keep the magic in the Spiral stable. She shudders to think what happens if they are too late to act. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so she doesn't know what to expect. Wizards need Magic in order to survive. They were born that way.

After finishing both tasks, she jumped out of the shower and placed the toothbrush away. She grabbed the towel and proceeded to dry herself. Before she opened the door to go get changed, James walked into the bathroom with Sydney in his arms.

"She is sucking on her thumb again… you know what that means…" James said in a teasing tone. Shelby rolled her eyes then smiled. She took Sydney gently into her arms. Immediately after doing so, the baby girl latched onto one of her breasts.

"Frisky today aren't you little one?" Shelby giggles as her daughter fed off of her. James gently ruffled the little patch of hair on his daughter's head.

"Heh, she must be like me…" James then whispered the rest of the sentence in his wife's ear. Shelby blushed a deep shape of red from that. She lightly smacked him in the arm for that comment.

"Oh, James, be quiet… Don't embarrass me in front of our daughter like this…"

James laughed in response. He then looked at his daughter fondly. "5 days… 5 days until she is just a year old! It seems like yesterday we just had her…" Shelby nodded in response. Time sure does fly. James then looked at Shelby, remembering something. His wife stared at him back, wondering what he was thinking.

"Shelby, mind telling me about that graph in your research room?" James asked her, folding his arms. The purple haired woman was a bit shocked that he found it. She even hid it in a good place. Guess James has his ways. Not that she blames him; a spouse would get curious about what the other is doing.

She cleared her throat, before deciding to answer him. "That, is a graph of the magical levels of the Spiral. It is uh… decreasing 1.6 percent each year." Shelby wondered if James would even believe her, but when she looked into his eyes, she knew that James did not doubt her.

James scratched the back of his head, sighing. "That would explain the news recently… How long were you intending to keep this from me?" Shelby looked down at her daughter who was still feeding off of her before looking back at him. She knew she should have told him when she first discovered this.

"I am sorry, honey. I just… didn't think you would believe me… because my fellow scientists and Ambrose sure didn't." Shelby explained, feeling guilty from keeping it from him. James smiled and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Then they are idiots. You are the one of the greatest scientists in Wizard City! No, in fact, you ARE the greatest scientist!" James threw his hands up as if adding emphasis to his statement. Shelby blushed and gently smacked his arm.

"Stop it, I am not."

Her husband smiled, but then thought about the magic decreasing. "So, Magic is decreasing by 1.6 percent every year? Jesus. That is a scary thought. Without magic we might as well all be dead…" Shelby wanted to point out that IS what is going to happen without their magic, but decided against it. James placed a hand under his chin in thought. He wondered how the hell can they convince Ambrose that this whole thing is happening? It is obvious that they needed to do something quick before things go horrible.

"I just don't know what to do… How can I give proof that this is happening? Ambrose won't believe the graphs I made and my fellow Scientists are of no help either…" Just as she finished that sentence, Sydney had stopped feeding and let go of her breast. She placed Sydney over her shoulder and began to pat her back softly. "I spent all day yesterday trying to find proof to show him… but I came up with nothing. Supposedly it is a Virus… but I can't seem to find anything of the sort…" Sydney let out a burp after that and she went back to being cradled in Shelby's arms.

"Well, let me help. I do have the day off today." He suggested. James took his daughter from his wife's arms and decided to play with her, poking her stomach, making her giggle. Shelby looked at him with a smile. He is actually going to help her out? Oh how she loved this man!

"Thank you, honey. That means a lot to me…" She gave him a brief kiss on the lips. She then thought for a minute. Was there something James can do to help her out today? James watched her think for a minute as he held his daughter.

"You can start helping me by checking out some books from the library about things that drain magic… maybe something evolved…" She told him. James nodded. That was a simple task for him to do. Perhaps he'll read the books himself so Shelby doesn't have to.

"Anything else?"

"Not at the moment." Shelby walked into their bedroom and grabbed the fresh pile of clothes she would be wearing today. A red shirt, a black lacy bra, black panties, a purple skirt, and knee-high socks. She placed them on quickly and then looked at herself in the mirror.

"Just do that for me and to make sure you take Sydney with you so you can look after her." Shelby told her husband as she applied some makeup.

"What are you going to do?" James asked as he went to go get his raincoat. The weather outside didn't look pretty nice. It was threatening to rain soon. Seems like the weather lady was right.

"Going to a few places and ask some questions. If this whole thing is because of a Virus… I need to see if anybody feels different recently…" And that was what she was going to do! She'll get the proof she'll need to convince Ambrose and get something done about it! With that, she grabbed her raincoat, placed it on, then headed outside.

~Line Break~

Kelsey clicked her tongue as she stared at the Math quiz in front of her. She gently tapped her desk with her pencil, thinking hard on question 2. 'What is the Derivative of sin ((u/x)^n+x^k) with respect to x?" Oh how she hated Math with such complicated problems such as these. She would much rather be doing magician tricks than doing this!

First week of school and she gets bombarded with a quiz. She blew raspberries and got up from her seat. She might as well fail this quiz. It is just one quiz, she'll do better on the others. She took her quiz and walked over to the Teacher's desk. Handing it over to her teacher, she told him she was going to the bathroom.

"My, you didn't seem to try at all on this quiz. You should have at least attempted some of the questions." The teacher mused as he looked at the first question she answered. It was correct, so he went ahead and gave an F grade. She got one out of 12.

"Whatever. Going to head to the bathroom now."

Kelsey headed out of the classroom and then shut the door softly behind her as there are still students finishing the quiz. She sighed and trailed her hand through her raven locks. She really wasn't in the mood for math. Heck, not really in the mood for school either.

It was eerily quiet in the hallway. Normally there would be hall monitors out and about, but there don't seem to be any at this time. She turned right and headed towards the girl's bathroom. She was about to head in when she heard heavy breathing coming from inside. Kelsey arched an eyebrow and then placed an ear to the door, trying to listen in.

"Oh my god… oh my god…"

That voice… that was Victoria! Alarmed, she headed into the bathroom. To her surprise, she sees Victoria looking at herself in the mirror, dabbing her neck with a wet paper towel. Her eyes wandered over to where the stalls are and to her shock and horror, she sees a girl on the ground, blood pouring from her.

"Vic… what the hell happened..?" Kelsey placed a hand over her mouth. Victoria turned to her, scared out of her mind. The brunette threw away the wet paper towel and quickly locked the bathroom. She then grabbed Kelsey by the shoulders.

"I didn't mean to! She… she bit me with those… fangs of hers…" Kelsey eyed the fang marks on Victoria's neck. A vampire bite… Her neck was still bleeding. But… if she was bitten… How did she not turn? Also, wasn't she supposed to be woozy? Vampires are supposed to suck your blood.

Kelsey took very deep breaths and tried to be calm about the situation. Her best friend has just killed… a vampire… so it seems and she was bitten. "So… that girl was a Vampire… but how are you not one and more importantly… are you woozy at all?"

Victoria paused for a second. "Um, now that you mention it… I don't really feel woozy, I mean she was sucking me for like maybe 3 seconds before I…" She shuddered, not believing that she did that. She wanted to cry, but not in front of her best friend. She was supposed to be the strong one.

"I do feel… drained of something though. It is definitely not blood. Granted she did drink some from me as expected from sucking on my neck, but that doesn't seem to be what she was draining me of…" Victoria looked over at the stall. She felt so guilty… "I didn't want to kill her, I just wanted her off of me. She like crawled underneath the stall and proceeded to attack me… What should I do? Am I going to jail?"

Kelsey bit her lip. Her friend was in quite a predicament. She's not sure the authorities would believe that she killed a vampire on self-defense. She opened the stall door and got a closer look of the dead vampire. It looks like Victoria shoved her so hard against the wall, she cracked her skull and died. Hmm, shouldn't a Vampire die by being stabbed through the heart or something?

Also, she knew this girl. She met her 3 days ago while shopping. She didn't have any fangs or looked any different. So…

"I-I don't know… I am at a loss for words…." Kelsey sighed, feeling so bad for her friend who was trembling in fear. "We'll see where this goes… Hopefully you won't get set off to jail and get expelled from school…"

~Line Break~

Shelby decided to start in the Wizard City Shopping District. There weren't that many wizards around at this time of day, although no one really shops here anyways. They do their business in Bazaar 99 percent of the time. She is rather surprised this place hasn't shut down from bankruptcy yet.

"Hmm, who should I ask? I need to collect a good amount of data and if all possible, which I doubt, I can maybe get a DNA sample from them so I can do some experiments. Sure, the doctors found nothing, but I am WILLING to try and figure out what this "Virus" is."

One thing that doesn't sit right with her though… How did that man who died… get his eyeballs ripped out of his head? Did somebody do that to him? Or was it a result of losing magic. Or maybe even the virus itself? All possibilities. All of them quite horrible really. Putting that thought to the side for the moment, she headed towards the robe shop, hoping to ask the person working there and anybody inside about how the feel when using magic a lot or in general. She stopped however, when she felt a rain drop land on her face. She rubbed the offending water off her face and looked up to the sky. Dark clouds covered the sky, threatening to burst with heavy rain. Then, without warning, it came down hard, drenching the city with water.

"Good thing I brought my raincoat..." Shelby mumbled as she put on her hood. She watched as many wizards from around the area run to take cover from the rain. As she walked towards the robe shop, she felt slightly weaker for some reason. Shelby wrapped her arms around herself, as if she was cold, but in reality, she is just getting weaker. "S-Strange..." How did that happen? Is there... something with the rain?" Being daring and testing a theory that formed in her head, she put her now wet hand to her face. She licked the water off of it and contemplated on the taste... It was slightly bitter... Just then, her body got a bit more weak.

"Oh god, there is something in the rain... What is causing it?!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a her science kit. She got a vial out and caught some of the rain drops. After collecting a decent amount, she closed it shut with a cork and put it back into her science kit. If her theory is correct, something in the rain is causing people to be weak... weak from the rain draining them of their magic. If the Virus is associated with the rain, they are all in big trouble. The big question is, what is causing it... and how can she stop it?

"Well, I better take shelter for now. If I stay in the rain any longer..." She trailed off as she ran to the robe shop went inside. She didn't want to think about that right now. She needed to do her survey!

~Line Break~

Kelsey laid on her bed, quite depressed at today's series of events. Just a little under an hour ago, her best friend, Victoria, was arrested on the charge of murder. The best outcome she can hope for is that she gets acquitted since she did it out of self-defense. There is evidence to prove that. The bite marks and all, so they have a pretty solid case. The raven haired girl is still worried though as this is the first time in history that a person was on trial for murdering what might be a Vampire, so she is not sure what will happen there.

A flash of lightning shook her out of her thoughts. She jumped up and looked outside her window. It began to rain heavily outside. She was glad to be inside. She hated the rain. The raven haired teen sighed and decided to head out into the living room to watch some TV just to get her mind off things. Her parents were out of the house... again. They leave so many times, they might as well just have abandoned her to look after the house all by her lonesome. Another flash of lightning shook her out of her thoughts. No matter how many times she hears it, she was always scared by them.

Quickly sitting down on the sofa, she turned on the TV and turned it to the Cartoon Network channel. Nothing like some cartoons to make her take her mind off things for a while. She sees that she was now in the middle of a Courage the Cowardly Dog show. Just before she got absorbed into it, an annoying rumble and ring came from her pocket. The teen pulled it out, not bothering to check the number on the cellphone and answered it. "Hello?" She didn't hear anything for a few seconds before the voice of a computer answered.

"Hello. Please stay indoors for the remainder of the day. The rain is causing some issues with some of your fellow citizens. We strongly advise that you do not go outside for any reason lest you risk putting yourself in danger." Kelsey looked out the window, still seeing the rain heavily pouring down from the sky. Nothing seemed to be happening outside besides that. In fact, besides a few cars driving by, there was nobody outside in the rain.

"The rain should settle by 2:00 AM. We thank you for your cooperation." The call ended and Kelsey slipped her cellphone back into her pocket. That was highly unusual. Calls like that rarely ever happen. However, why can't she go outside? The rain doesn't exactly hurt anyone... unless it is acid rain... but it looked like just normal rain to her. How is it causing problems for people that they'd need to call people about it. Just what is going on?

"Well, let's see what the problem is. I am going outside to see." She said to no one in particular as she got up from the couch and went outside in the rain. The rain seemed harmless enough as she let it get herself wet. After a minute of that, she didn't feel any other change... besides being cold. She looked around the area. Her neighborhood seemed to be quite peaceful... nothing dangerous at all.

"Must have been a prank or something..." She muttered to herself. She went back inside, annoyed that it wasted her time. Unknown to her... if she stayed outside for at least another few seconds, she would have caught a glimpse of something really out of the ordinary running around.

~Line Break~

Shelby sat inside the Sandwich Restaurant in Downtown of Wizard City. She was eating a Cheesesteak because she was really hungry after surveying at least 100 people. Only 25 of them actually had some experiences of being tired when using magic only a few times. Would 25 people really be enough to convince him?

Also, this begs to question… Was she infected with this Virus? It has been a LONG time since she used magic. Well maybe she was exaggerating… It has only been a year. She didn't need to use magic or practice magic. She was a scientist. She wasn't like those Questers that go and fight monsters for a living. So, it is not like she knows if she is or not. Perhaps she will test it out… maybe?

Shaking her head, she needed to stop thinking about it for right now. She eyed the daily newspaper on the rack next to her table. Shrugging, she picked it up and began to read the headlines for today.

 _5 Mentally Ill Wizards attack other Wizards at the Wizard City Hospital!_

 ** _Late last night, 5 Wizards that had been taken in because of their mental illness, had attacked other Wizards that were visiting the Hospital. Doctors say that they keep murmuring about "Being Drained". After security stopped them from beating the other Wizards to death, they kept on saying, "I want you drained…" As of now, nobody knows what they mean, but it could be just the talking of the mentally ill._**

"Those poor Wizards…" Shelby folded the newspaper and hung it back on the rack. That kept her mind off things for a bit. She hoped those that were mentally ill got 'better' soon. No one should go through that. Ending her thoughts with that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial that contained the slightly bitter rain she collected. She definitely needed to do some experiments on this if she wants to find out the truth of the matter. However, her lab is closed for the day, so she can't do that right now.

"...Hello..." Shelby almost dropped the vial from shock and looked at the owner of the voice. It was a female android. Wizard City has been having a lot of those around recently. They only just appeared a year ago thanks to the discovery of making AI very human-like. This android has blue hair, blue eyes, very pale skin, and she appeared to wearing a full body suit in black and blue.

"H-Hi..." Shelby would never say this out loud, but she finds the androids strangely attractive, especially this one. She shook her head of those thoughts. She was a married woman for crying out loud. She should not be ogling androids... especially in public! "Can I help you with something, miss?" She asked, wondering what an android is doing here. They don't eat. The only way they get energy is by going into sleep mode to recharge, but that's it. Perhaps she was owned by somebody and was brought here?

"May I see that vial you have there?" She asked in her polite human programmed voice. It astounded Shelby that Science has developed this far. Going back to the request at hand though, she looked at the vial she held and contemplated on whether or not to hand it over. It stopped raining, but it is not like she can't just get more samples if the android decided to take it for good. Shrugging, she nodded in response. The android gave her her thanks and examined the vial. Shelby doesn't see it, but she can tell that the android was busy scanning the contents.

"My scanners say that this liquid or H2O is intoxicated with some chemicals from a wand factory. It also holds a virus that greatly weakens magical life..." Shelby's eyes widened at that. Not only did she not have to do the experiments herself, but now she knows more info on this virus thanks to this android. What luck. "I can tell that you seem to be quite enthusiastic about finding more about the strange water you collected. I only wanted to help out." The android continued, giving her a soft smile.

"Do you happen to know of a way to combat the virus?" Shelby asked, almost begging for the answer. The android merely shook her head in response.

"I am sorry... I lack data required to figure that out. All I can do is trace what's in it and where it came from."

"Answer me this then, is everyone around here infected with the virus?" Shelby asked, jotting down some notes so she won't forget it later.

"Anyone who has been in direct contact with the rain are infected, I can say that much. That excludes androids like me however. It does not affect our artificial bodies after all." She said that last part with a bit of sadness, seeing how she wasn't totally human. Shelby contemplated that for a moment, before she realized something.

"Wait, shouldn't you have already known about this since you probably been outside in the rain for at least once?" The android smiled, seeing where her thought process went to.

"Very observant. However, I have not been in direct contact with the rain. I was built here and was commanded by my master to never leave the building for any reason. So this is the first time I have scanned the rain. Before you ask, my scanners have a limited range unlike my fellow androids so I couldn't have just scanned the rain outside." She answered, effectively ending any questions Shelby would have brought up. She handed back the vial and Shelby placed it back in her pocket for safe keeping.

"Well, thank you for helping me out, miss..." Shelby trailed off, waiting for her to fill her in. "Dagna Will is the name that was given to me" The android gave the scientist a firm handshake before heading into the kitchen to probably do some work. Guess she didn't need Shelby's name unless she already scanned her for one. The scientist went back to her lunch while thinking about all the info she was given. So apparently the Wand Factories around Wizard City and probably the rest of the Spiral are causing rain that has a virus in it to weaken magical life and effectively draining them of their magic. If that isn't proof, she didn't know what is. Tomorrow she will definitely have a talk with Ambrose tomorrow. This was a huge discovery.

 _4 days until the End of the Spiral…_

 **Angel: If any old readers are reading this, I do have chapter 6 written up, but I will put that up once I upload a couple of updated chapters a day. You will see the update soon. Don't worry. That is all.**


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